Travel to Placencia -- With an Overnight?

[deborahdelamar]

There are 4 of us traveling from Cozumel, NY and Boston to spend a week sailing out of Placencia. Air fares are steering me toward having the group meet in Playa del Carmen (US people fly to CUN), bus to Belize City and fly Maya Air to Placencia. Hoping to find decent airfares to Belize City -- and eliminate the long travel for the folks from the US, one of whom is recovering from hip replacement surgery -- but so far no luck. Or maybe there's a way via Guatemala or Honduras?

Any ideas or suggestions about the best way to manage this travel and/or best location for an overnight (I'm thinking Bacalar to break up the bus trip?) are appreciated!

Thanks,
Deb

 

[deborahdelamar]

OK, I'll answer.... Took a while to find cars that could cross the border...and I did. Renting a car at Cancun airport & driving down is the best deal with the most options for fun along the way!

 

[Thatch Caye Belize]

You can bus down from Cancun to Chetumal, overnight there, and then cross the border to Belize and take buses down to Placencia. Or once you cross into Belize, just take the bus from Corozal (near the border inside Belize) to Belize Intl. Airport and from there you can hop a plane to Placencia. Also, you could easily go to Guatemala Intl. and take a bus to the western border of Belize at Melchor de Mencos and Benque Viejo del Carmen. From there you can get a bus to Placencia.

Once you start sailing from Placencia, come by and see us up at Thatch Caye though. We are on the sailing itenerary for all Moorings boats, but if you rent from someone else or go privately, we are at the northern part of Coco Plum Cayes off of Dangriga. We do diving, snorkelling, and inland tours from our base out on the caye.

 

[deborahdelamar]

Thanks for your response. We decided to rent the car so that we can explore along the way -- and stop for the day if it gets to be too much sitting for the patient. We have plenty of time and have invited friends who've never been to the Yucatan or Belize, so I expect we'll zigzag quite a bit. The sailing will be with Tradewinds, which recently moved their Belize base from San Pedro to Placencia. I don't know their diving arrangements.

Other alternatives I found:
Tropic Air has many flights per day from Corozal to Placentia via San Pedro & Belize Municipal. Right now, the fare is $312.50 per person.

The Menzies BelizeTransfers.com Home
charge $440 for 4 from Corozal to Placencia by land. They will arrange transportation from many points in Mexico, including Merida and Cancun, to all points in Belize and they handle immigration & customs. They will also arrange a rental car for pickup in Corozal -- there are other agencies that do this as well.

 

[peterbj7]

I've used the Menzies lots of times and I can say that their service is second to none. They'll certainly go out of their way to be as helpful as possible. If you aim at flying from Belize City Municipal airstrip to Placencia you'll probably find you save a lot over going from the international airport. I'd think hard about renting a car as you probably won't find the overall experience very restful, you may find it difficult to return the car anywhere other than where you rented it (and certainly not in a different country), and if you leave it standing while you're out sailing you'll probably find the costs mount alarmingly. And fuel is very costly in Belize. Someone like the Menzies will (if you wish) stop off at interesting places you wouldn't have found and show you views you didn't even know about. There's no substitute for a local guide.

Once you're on the water do stop off at Thatch Caye. I've just been there and was amazed at how many sailing cats were stopping off there for meals and some R&R. Food is high quality "home cooking" served in a family-type atmosphere. There's shallow calm water on both sides of the caye so regardless of the wind direction you'll find a quiet comfortable mooring, and the Thatch Caye folks will willingly ferry you back and forth. I've visited a few other cayes in that area and without doubt Thatch is the best.

 

[Damselfish]

I don't think I would do the car thing either. After several trips to Belize we finally got around to heading inland to do some things, just a couple weeks ago. We (group of 4) thought about renting a car to go out there and to do some things on our own, but instead we did transfers and tours with guides and were very happy we did. The roads, while said to be much better than they used to be, aren't all that great and sometimes pretty awful. And the local guides were invaluable in so many ways. At first I thought some of them seemed a bit pricey but considering the personal attention and benefit of the local knowledge we received, not to mention the beating the vehicles take, all well worth it. (I'd hate to worry about damage to a rental there.) $440 for 4 from Corozal to Placencia with a outfit that comes recommended sounds good to me.

 

[peterbj7]

I didn't spot what Menzies were going to charge you from Corozal to Placencia. How will you get from CUN to Corozal? Have you asked Menzies for a quote for the entire journey? Especially if you tell them beforehand that you want to explore along the way, they will make all sorts of detours for you for not a lot of extra money. You will have to make the first leg, from CUN to Corozal, by road as there's no plane (unless things have changed very recently).

An alternative is the flight, which of course will be much quicker, though with two stopovers where you'll have to wait for planes. If you do end up flying via San Pedro, try to have at least three hours there to look around. You won't want to hang around either the Municipal or International airports in Belize City longer than the plane scheduling forces you to, but if you do have to hang around at the Municipal you'll find the Maya building much more comfortable than Tropic's.

The road from Belize City to Placencia, especially the part after Belmopan, is very pretty and it will be a shame to miss it. The road from Corozal to Belize City is best got over as quickly as possible.

Overall I'd say it's no contest. Use Menzies for the entire journey, even if the cost goes up quite a lot to pay for the detours. Only one thing - it's a long journey from CUN to Placencia and I don't see it being done in one day. Even flying the three legs from Corozal the rest of the way on top of a 5 hour road journey to get there from CUN will make for a long day. Do you know when you'll be able to depart CUN?

It may seem an outlandish suggestion, but with four of you have you investigated the cost of a private plane charter from CUN all the way to Placencia? It won't be a cheap option, but bearing in mind the costs you're going to incur for an overnight stay if you go surface, and of course the time it'll take, you may find the sums work out better than you think.

You can fly from CUN direct to Flores in Guatemala, which will leave you a road journey up to the Belize border (maybe 2 1/2 hours), then via Belmopan to Placencia (maybe 5 hours). Or it may be that the Tropic and Maya flights to Flores have recommenced by then, in which case you could make the entire journey by air (with changes in Flores and Belize City). I don't know whet the cost would be, but you can probably work it out from their websites. Tropic and Maya charge the same fares but do operate different schedules, so choose based on convenience of timings.